The sight of giant paceman Boyd Rankin clutching at his hamstring and fellow debutant Scott Borthwick being carted around the SCG did not bode well for England as it tried to avoid further embarrassment in the form of an Ashes whitewash.

The touring selectors handed out three new caps for the final Test of the series, unveiling strapping Irishman Rankin, rookie leg-spinner Borthwick and middle order batsman Gary Ballance. It was the first time England had fielded three debutants since Alastair Cook, Monty Panesar and Ian Blackwell were introduced in Nagpur in 2006.

But most things that can go wrong have gone wrong for England on this tour and so it proved again after Cook sent Australia in and reduced the home side to 4-94 at lunch.

Rankin endured a horror first day as a Test cricketer. His initial breakdown came after bowling just one ball in his third spell, in the 44th over of the match, and he left the field. He tried to return to the attack in the 62nd over but that attempt was also aborted after just one ball, and he again headed for the dressing room.

England said Rankin was suffering from cramp and that scans had shown no evidence of a muscle strain. This was not a glowing endorsement of the fast bowler's fitness just eight overs and two balls into his Test career.

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The sense that England's tour had descended into farce was heightened by the sight of Panesar, apparently replaced by Borthwick because of a calf strain, sprinting from the field with drinks during the pause in play.

Borthwick, 23, is the budding leg-spinner nominated by Graeme Swann as a player worth investing in, and he was called into the squad in the aftermath of Swann's mid-series retirement.

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But he is regarded as more of a batting all-rounder in English cricket and conceded seven an over in his debut Test appearance. Steve Smith, a leggie himself, was especially unforgiving of his full tosses, and smashed him for five fours and a six during his innings of 115 at his home ground.

The injury to Rankin and the merciless treatment of Borthwick meant England was effectively reduced to three bowlers - Stuart Broad, Jimmy Anderson and Ben Stokes, whose perseverance earned him 6-99, including three wickets and a dropped catch in his last over.

''He can be quite expensive sometimes but he can get you three or four quick wickets which he did for Durham which is why he's been picked in this game,'' Stokes said of Borthwick, who picked up the scalp of Mitchell Johnson late in the day. ''He's pretty good at putting things behind him. That's his character, I've seen it a lot in him that he comes out and has often backed up not the greatest performance with a really good performance, so hopefully he can do that.''

Cook could not turn to the part-time off spin of Joe Root (dropped for Ballance), the seamers of Jonathan Trott (gone home with a stress-related illness) or Swann (retired).

Nor did the decision to persevere with the 33-year-old Michael Carberry instead of the younger Root reap dividends in the first innings. With Australia all out for 326, Carberry did not survive the nasty burst from Johnson and Ryan Harris before stumps, nudging a catch off Johnson to leg slip for a nine-ball duck.